• Question: Do insects have a brain? If so, how does it work and why does a house fly's brain not see a transparent glass?

    Asked by ash001 to Joanna on 23 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Joanna Brooks

      Joanna Brooks answered on 23 Jun 2010:

      Hello again! Yes, insects (like flies) have brains but they differ greatly from human brains. One of the main comparisons is that insect brains and human brains have ‘optical or occipital lobes’ which are involved in vision. Some animals like jellyfish don’t have brains at all as some basic responses (feeding) are possible without a brain. A fly brain might not see transparent glass because flies cannot see very long distances – by which point they have usually hit the glass!

      BTW did you do the quiz to find out what sex your brain is?
      http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sex/add_user.shtml

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